1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for creating a copy image from a hardcopy original on a reproduction system comprising a display, wherein the method comprises the steps of displaying a predetermined digital image at the display of the reproduction system according to image parameters which are set with initial image parameter values and reading out image parameter values entered by a user.
The present invention also relates to a reproduction system suitable for executing the method according to the invention.
2. Background of the Invention
Reproduction systems are known comprising a scanner in order to scan hardcopy originals, e.g. paper originals. Such a scanner may be a color scanner which can be used to produce a color scan of the hardcopy original. A reproduction system comprising a scanner may also comprise a print engine in order to print a scan of the hardcopy original. The print engine produces a print of the hardcopy original. Such a reproduction system usually has a local user interface or a remote workstation comprising a display means for displaying and an entering means for preparing the reproduction system for the reproduction of the hardcopy original.
A copy image is defined as a product of a scanning action. This product may take the form of a scan file being a number of bits of a bitmap residing in a memory of the reproduction system, or may take the form of a print out which is printed by the reproduction system on a receiving material. The copy image may be a color copy image.
A preparing step for the reproduction of the hardcopy original is setting image parameters, for example for tuning of the brightness, the contrast and the colors of the copy image.
When making a copy image, it may be very hard to make a satisfactory copy image, in particular, when no preview is available, because the hardcopy original has not been scanned yet. Reasons for this difficulty may be that the hardcopy original has color related problems, the scanner perceives the colors of the hardcopy original different from how the user sees them, or the printer has not been calibrated correctly. A color related problem of the hardcopy original may be detected at inspection of the hardcopy original which shows, for example, blue sky, human skin, green grass which is too blue, not a color of typical human skin, too green, respectively.
Typically, a reproduction system has an operator panel via which a user has to select how a color or a value of another image parameter of the hardcopy original should be changed in order to get a desired copy image. The user has to characterize the colors of the desired copy image. To be able to do this, the user must be knowledgeable about color-theory. Such a change of colors may take place in an RGB domain, so knowledge of the user of the kind of marking material like inks and behavior of the marking material does not help, since they are expressed in the CMYK domain.
Typically the user is offered a way to indicate to the reproduction system what the copy image should look like by means of displaying a predetermined digital image at the display means, e.g. the operator panel, according to image parameters which are set with initial image parameter values. These image parameters may be visualized and displayed by the display means. The user may change these initial image parameter values in order to change the predetermined digital image into an image which shows the desired output. This is very helpful as long as the hardcopy original is of good quality, a scanner is well-calibrated and a print engine does not have a problem related to print quality. However, the hardcopy original may be deviating concerning the colors, the contrast or the brightness. Unfortunately, when the hardcopy original is far from perfect and the image parameter values of the predetermined digital image are changed, it is unclear what the copy image will look like when printed because of the imperfect hardcopy original. The user may only get the correct image parameter values after several trial-and-error efforts. Therefore, it is difficult to get the correct image parameter values quickly.